With official visits about to heat up, Josh Heupel and Tennessee are going to be ready to post some big-time recruiting wins, as a boatload of prospects are making their way to town soon. However, that doesn't mean some rough losses won't be posted, and there's already one that has plenty of people talking.
3 Tennessee offensive players I'm buying stock in before fall camp
In case you missed it, 4-star safety Jarrell Chandler committed to Clemson over Tennessee and others. What made this news hurt so much is that Chandler is a standout defensive back for Halls High right in Knoxville, with his high school being a stone's throw away from the UT campus. Despite that, he's off to play his college ball for Dabo Swinney and the Tigers?
BREAKING: Four-Star Safety Jarrell Chandler has Committed to Clemson, he tells me for @Rivals⁰⁰The 6’3 210 S from Knoxville, TN chose the Tigers over Tennessee, Miami, and Vanderbilt
— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) May 18, 2026
He’s ranked as a Top 95 Recruit in the 2027 Rivals300 🐅https://t.co/oCHudSZFmv pic.twitter.com/3Eosl00Uuv
4-star safety Jarrell Chandler picking Clemson over Tennessee is a rough look for Josh Heupel
Heupel is always going to want to keep the best players in the state close to home. This has been a priority for him from the moment he made the move to SEC country and that's not going to change. That's why losing Chandler to Clemson of all places feels a bit off.
Hey, Vanderbilt fans are probably upset about this too, but the fact of the matter here is that Chandler is a Knoxville product. A quick look on google maps shows that Halls High to the UT campus is roughly 12 miles away, and a 25 minute drive with traffic.
Compare that with a nearly four-hour drive to Clemson, which is around 200 miles away. This could have been a case of Chandler wanting to leave the area for his college ball, but it was Heupel's job to remind him that the best in Tennessee need to stay in Tennessee to suit up for the Vols.
This is what Heupel is hoping gets done with 5-star running back David Gabriel Georges, as the elite playmaker is getting closer to making his decision. There has been plenty of buzz that this is going to come down to either Tennessee or Ohio State, as Ryan Day and the Buckeyes sure are giving the speedster a lot to think about.
We should find out soon what happens with DGG, but for now, there are understandably plenty of people a bit frustrated with Chandler being Clemson-bound. According to the 247Sports Composite, the 6-3, 210-pounder is ranked the No. 24 safety in the country and No. 256 player overall for the 2027 class. Heupel has proven to be a recruiting magician, but this was no question a major swing and a miss for him, period.
Add us as a preferred source on Google